Autoworld's best kept secret!

I have been driving (legally) for two decades. One would think I would have noticed the little secret on my dash that was staring me right in the face the whole time. I didn't and I bet you probably haven't either.

Quick question, what side of your car is your gas tank? If you are anything like me, you probably can't remember right away. My solution is to uncomfortably stick my head out the window, strain my neck and look. If you don't do this in your own car you definetly have done it in a borrowed or rental car.
Well ladies and gentlemen, I'm going to share with you my little secret so you will no longer look like Ace Ventura on your way to the gas station or put your neck at risk of uncomfort or injury.
If you look at your gas guage, you will see a small icon of a gas pump. The handle of the gas pump will extend out on either the left or right side of the pump. If your tank is on the left, the handle will be on the left. If your tank is on the right, the handle will be on the right (see photo above). It is that simple!
I don't know how you feel right now but when I found out this morning I felt cheated!
Why don't the dealers share such importnant information with car buyers? I don't understand why this isn't in the drivers manual? I don't get why any mechanic I have ever been too or know has even thought of mentioning this to me? The only possible explantion can be that all these people probably don't even know!
Go out and share the worlds best kept auto secret with your friends as this is information is way too important to be kept secret.

Protest at unconscionable oil price increases

Ipoh, Perak

* Venue : Perak Office of Ministry of Domestic Trade and Consumer Affairs
at Federal Building (opposite Dewan Bandaraya Ipoh ), Green Town, Ipoh
* Date : Thursday, 5th June 2008
* Time : 11am

Kuala Lumpur

* Venue : Jalan Pasar, Pudu (indirectly opposite RHB and Am Bank)
* Date : Thursday, 5th June 2008
* Time : 11.30am

Malaysian opposition plans protests against fuel price hike

KUALA LUMPUR - Malaysia's government faced demonstrations and public outrage Thursday over its decision to hike petrol prices 40 percent overnight, in a bid to curb its massive subsidies bill.

Opposition groups said they would hold protests in Kuala Lumpur at 11.30am (0330 GMT) and in the northern city of Ipoh at 11.00am over the "unconscionable" increase.

"The fuel increase is both economically inefficient and socially unjust," said Lim Guan Eng, secretary-general of the Democratic Action Party which is part of the opposition alliance.

"So long as rich companies continue to enjoy such fuel subsidies, especially the independent power producers, the fuel increase will be seen as both pro-rich and punishing the poor," he said in a statement.

The new pump price for petrol will be 2.70 ringgit (84 US cents) and 2.58 ringgit for diesel. Petrol previously cost 1.92 ringgit, among the cheapest in Asia.

Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi's announcement on Wednesday evening triggered chaos across the country as motorists swamped fuel stations to fill up before the measure took effect at midnight.

Traffic snarls brought streets to a standstill in the capital Kuala Lumpur as up to 100 cars queued at each petrol station which still had fuel to sell, while many others said they had sold out and turned angry customers away.

Abdullah indicated that further increases were in the pipeline as Malaysia moves to completely abandon fuel price controls that would have cost US$17.4 billion this year -- about a third of the national budget.

"God willing I hope Malaysians will not demonstrate over this," he said, referring to fury over earlier hikes in a country where public transport is poor and most people are reliant on their cars.

Motorists who turned up at petrol stations Thursday to pay sharply higher prices to fill their tanks were uniformly furious over the decision.

"We can do nothing about this government increase -- we have to buy fuel, otherwise how can we go to work?" said 56-year-old engineer K. Letchumanan.

"For my family it's not so bad as we have two incomes, but the poor people will suffer."

Aminah Rahmat, a 46-year-old streetside vendor who had set up her food stall outside a petrol station, said she could already barely manage on her monthly income of less than 1,000 ringgit (300 dollars).

"The government does not care for our welfare, that is why they have made such a huge fuel increase," she said.

"How can I afford to pay so much to transport my cooked food to my customers? I will go out of business."

Bus operators said that a third of companies may have to close down and lorry firm said their rates would have to rise, in a move that will trickle down to higher prices for goods and services.

Abdullah is taking a major political risk in removing price controls as he attempts to recover from disastrous March elections that dealt the ruling coalition its worst results in half a century.

Rising prices of food and fuel were a major factor in the ballot, which has triggered repeated calls for the premier to stand down.

"It is not an attempt to be popular, we have to think in the best interests of the people," Abdullah said Wednesday.

Under a revamped subsidy system, drivers of smaller vehicles will receive a cash payment of 625 ringgit to offset the rising cost, equating to subsidising some 800 litres of fuel.

But economists said the subsidy cut was deeper than anticipated, and that the cash payment was not large enough to compensate for average use.

Abdullah said the price hike could suppress economic growth and drive up inflation as high as 5.0 percent this year, from current levels of 3.0 percent in April.

As part of the subsidy reform, industry and power producers will be charged higher prices for gas from July. Electricity tariffs will rise 18 percent for householders, and 26 percent for commercial and industrial users.

But there was good news for Thais and Singaporeans who will now be allowed to buy fuel at border petrol stations after a recent ban was lifted in view of the subsidy cut. - AFP/ir

Don’t subsidise fuel, don’t tax cars

Malaysia

I AGREE with Dzof Azmi's argument in Fuelling trouble with petrol subsidies, (Contradictheory, StarMag, March 30) that the Government cannot afford to subsidise petrol and keep prices artificially low forever.

However, I want to point out that when you talk about the price of petrol, you have to also talk about the price of cars in Malaysia. These two items go hand in hand, something that Dzof failed to mention.

If one expects the rakyat to pay the real price of petrol (say, RM3 per litre) in the future when the petrol subsidy is zero, then the price of cars must also be real, ie, be tax free.

If one expects the people to pay the full, real-world price of petrol – and I must say it is a perfectly reasonable expectation – then the rakyat expects, also reasonably, to buy cars at real-world prices, without the exorbitant taxes currently imposed.

For example, a Toyota Corolla at the real price of US$19,000 (RM60,500) instead of artificially high at RM117,000.

Now, when the average consumer buys a car, he has already paid (in the form of import duties, excise duties, and sales tax) to the Government, in advance, a sum greater than the petrol subsidy he can expect to enjoy over the time he owns the car.

Let me give you an example.

If a consumer buys a Toyota Corolla at RM117,000, the tax he pays, up front, to the Government is more than RM50,000.

Then, he enjoys the fuel subsidy each time he fills up with petrol. To benefit from the RM50,000 that he has paid, in advance, it will take approximately 16 years (assuming he uses 60 litres of petrol a week and the subsidy is RM1 per litre)!

So, it is not fair to say that the subsidy of petrol has to be reduced or removed when the commodity price goes up, without reducing or abolishing the hefty taxes on cars.

You can’t use the “cheapest petrol in South-East Asia” and “price of crude oil has skyrocketed” excuses to justify the reduction in petrol subsidy as long as the ridiculously high tax is imposed on cars.

The rakyat won’t buy your story because we know that we, as motorists, have already paid for the petrol “subsidy”. In advance.

Jimmy Wah, Bayan Lepas, Penang